"
The Professional Fighters League (PFL), the first organization ever to present MMA through a Regular Season, Playoffs and Championship, returns to NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, on Long Island, N.Y., for PFL 2 on Thursday night, May 23. PFL 2 features the return of 2018 PFL champions, Featherweight Lance Palmer and Lightweight Natan Schulte, as they look to repeat and earn another million-dollar prize, and Long Island natives Chris Wade and Andre Harrison competing in front of their hometown fans.
PFL 2 Lightweight and Featherweight action begins at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes, then the action continues on ESPN+ at 9:00 p.m. ET. All matches on ESPN+ are also available in Spanish. The PFL will continue to integrate its SmartCage and Cagenomics technology to the broadcast experience, delivering dynamic, real-time data and analytics on fighters’ performance that brings fans inside the cage like never before.
Returning Featherweight champion Lance Palmer will face Alex Gilpin in the final fight of the night. The former four-time All-American wrestler from Ohio State was one of three PFL fighters to finish the 2018 season undefeated, going a perfect 5-0 en route to the title and million-dollar prize. Gilpin, a former Texas state wrestling champion and Wisconsin Badger, is making his PFL debut riding a 7-fight win streak. 2018 Lightweight champion Natan Schulte is also looking to repeat as champion and will face PFL newcomer Bao Yincang in ESPN2 action.
Both Andre Harrison (featherweight) and Chris Wade (lightweight) came up short last season, falling in the semifinals to the eventual champions Lance Palmer and Natan Schulte respectively. Now they get a new chance at glory, and it begins in front of their family and friends on Long Island. They’ll fight in back-to-back bouts near the end of the night, and both are taking on new PFL contenders. Harrison faces Peter Petties out of Columbia, Maryland. Wade faces Providence, Rhode Island’s Nate Andrews, who has 10 career wins by submission.
Rising star Jeremy Kennedy will take on aggressive Brazilian striker Alexandre Bezerra in his PFL debut. Kennedy is 13-1 in his career, including a 3-1 record in UFC. He suffered his only career loss at UFC 221 to Alexander Volkanovski by 2nd round TKO. Since then he’s secured two straight knockouts to enter the league with momentum.
ESPN+ will feature the exclusive PFL 2 Pre-Show on Wednesday, May 22 at 6:30 p.m. ET, to prepare fans for all of Thursday’s regular season action. ESPN+ will also feature the exclusive PFL 2 Post-Show, live immediately following the event.
Calling the live action for PFL 2 will be play-by-play announcer and 2018 PFL Light Heavyweight champion, Sean O’Connell. Alongside O’Connell serving as color analysts will be UFC Hall-of-Famer, Randy “The Natural” Couture, and former UFC Lightweight, Yves Edwards. Caroline Pearce will host the nights action, and former WWE Ring Announcer Lilian Garcia will introduce fighters to the cage as the In-Cage Announcer of the PFL.
ESPN.com coverage of PFL 2 includes a feature story on Jeremy Kennedy from Myron Medcalf. ESPN.com will provide live recaps and results as the fights take place.
MMA fans can sign up for ESPN+ at www.espnplus.com or through the ESPN App.
The ESPN social team will again bring fans images, stories and information throughout the week and weekend, on the @ESPNMMA handles on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
All times ET
Wed. 5/22
6:30 p.m.
PFL 2 Pre-Show
ESPN+
Thur., 5/23
7:00 p.m.
PFL 2 Fight Card
Featherweight: Steven Siler (Provo, UT) (32-18-1) vs. Gadzhi Rabadanov (Russia) (10-3-1)
Featherweight: Damon Jackson (Dallas, TX)
(16-2-1) vs. Movlid Khaybulaev (Russia) (13-0)
Featherweight: Alexandre Bezerra (Brazil) (22-6) vs. Jeremy Kennedy (Canada) (13-1)
Lightweight: Natan Schulte (Brazil) (15-3-1) vs. Bao Yincang (China) (12-6, 1NC)
ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes
9:00 p.m.
PFL 2 Fight Card
Lightweight: Rashid Magomedov (Russia) (22-3-1) vs. Loik Radzhabov (Tajikistan) (11-0)
Lightweight: Islam Mamedov (Russia) (16-2) vs. Ylies Djiroun (France) (16-4)
Featherweight: Alexandre Almeida (Brazil) (20-9) vs. Luis Rafael Laurentino (Brazil) (33-1)
Lightweight: Akhmed Aliev (Russia) (17-4) vs. Carlao Silva (Brazil) (11-1)
Lightweight: Ramsey Nijem (Orem, UT) (10-7) vs. Ronys Torres (Brazil) (37-6)
Featherweight: Andre Harrison (Long Island, NY) vs. Peter Petties (Columbia, MD) (8-4-1)
Lightweight: Chris Wade (Long Island, NY) (14-5) vs. Nate Andrews (Providence, RI) (15-1)
Featherweight: Lance Palmer (Columbus, OH) (17-3) vs. Alex Gilpin (Madison, WI) (12-1)
ESPN+
12:00 a.m. (approx.) ET
PFL 2 Post Show
ESPN+ (Live)
About Professional Fighters League
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) presents MMA for the first time in the sport-season format where individual fighters control their own destiny, competing in a regular season, playoffs, and championship. PFL’s differentiated format and exciting fights sparked breakout growth for the league. PFL events are Thursday nights primetime live on ESPN2 and ESPN+.
The PFL 2019 Season features elite MMA athletes across six weight classes, including the first-ever 155-pound women’s division, with each fighter having two fights during the PFL Regular Season in May, June, July, and August. The top eight fighters in each weight class advance to the single-elimination PFL Playoffs in October, where fighters must fight twice and win twice in the same night to advance to the finals. PFL Championship is New Year’s Eve with the winners of each title bout being crowned PFL World Champion of their respective weight class and earning $1 million. Viewers will be delivered next-gen stats never before seen in MMA through the PFL’s proprietary SmartCage™ platform and Cagenomics™ technology.
PFL is backed by an investor group of sports, media, entertainment, and business titans. Watch PFL live Thursday nights in the U.S. on ESPN2, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes. PFL is also available in 130 countries around the world with leading local broadcasters.
For more info visit www.PFLmma.com and follow PFL on Instagram (@PFLmma), Twitter (@ProFightLeague), and Facebook (/ProFightLeague).
About ESPN
ESPN, the world’s leading sports entertainment enterprise, features more than 50 assets – eight U.S. television networks, ESPN Radio, ESPN.com, ESPN International, ESPN The Magazine and more. ESPN is 80 percent owned by ABC, Inc. (an indirect subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company) and 20 percent by Hearst.
About ESPN+
ESPN+ is the multi-sport, direct-to-consumer video service from The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment and ESPN. It reached 2 million subscribers in less than a year and offers fans thousands of live events, on-demand content and original programming not available on ESPN’s linear TV or digital networks, along with premium editorial content.
Programming on ESPN+ includes hundreds of MLB and NHL games, exclusive UFC, Top Rank boxing and PFL fights and events, top domestic and international soccer (Serie A, MLS, FA Cup, UEFA Nations League, EFL Championship, EFL Carabao Cup, Eredivisie, and more), thousands of college sports events (including football, basketball and other sports), Grand Slam tennis, international and domestic rugby and cricket, new and exclusive series, acclaimed studio shows and the full library of ESPN’s award-winning 30 for 30 films.Fans can subscribe to ESPN+ for just $4.99 a month (or $49.99 per year) and can cancel at any time.
ESPN+ is available as an integrated part of the ESPN App (on mobile and connected devices) and ESPN.com, the industry-leading all-in-one digital sports platform, delivering a rich, personalized experience to tens of millions of fans every month.
"
